John Betjeman: A Poet in London

Last updated

John Betjeman: A Poet in London is a 1959 British short film about John Betjeman directed by Ken Russell for the Monitor series. It was his first professional film. Russell made a second film with Betjeman, Journey into a Lost World, first shown in 1960. [1]

Related Research Articles

John Betjeman English writer, poet, and broadcaster

Sir John Betjeman was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, helping to save St Pancras railway station from demolition. He began his career as a journalist and ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureate and a much-loved figure on British television.

Ken Russell British film director (1927–2011)

Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptations of existing texts, or biographies, notably of composers of the Romantic era. Russell began directing for the BBC, where he made creative adaptations of composers' lives which were unusual for the time. He also directed many feature films independently and for studios.

Willy Russell British dramatist, lyricist and composer

William Russell is an English dramatist, lyricist and composer. His best known works are Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine, Blood Brothers and Our Day Out.

Patrick Kavanagh was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel Tarry Flynn, and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life through reference to the everyday and commonplace.

BFI London Film Festival Annual film festival held in London, United Kingdom

The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shorts from approximately 50 countries.

Edward Mirzoeff CVO, CBE is a prominent British television producer and documentary filmmaker.

Archibald Ormsby-Gore, better known as Archie, was the teddy-bear of English poet laureate John Betjeman. Together with a toy elephant known as Jumbo, he was a lifelong companion of Betjeman's.

<i>Metro-Land</i> (1973 film) 1973 British film

Metro-Land is a BBC documentary film written and narrated by the then Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Sir John Betjeman. It was directed by Edward Mirzoeff, and first broadcast on 26 February 1973. The film celebrates suburban life in the area to the northwest of London that grew up in the early 20th century around the Metropolitan Railway (MR)—later the Metropolitan line of the London Underground.

Benjamin Whitrow British actor

Benjamin John Whitrow was an English actor. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his role as Mr Bennet in the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, and voiced the role of Fowler in the 2000 animated film Chicken Run. His other film appearances include Quadrophenia (1979), Personal Services (1987) and Bomber (2009).

James Michael "Jim" Parker is a BAFTA-winning British composer.

Basil Wright English documentary filmmaker

Basil Wright was a documentary filmmaker, film historian, film critic and teacher.

Works of John Betjeman

Sir John Betjeman (1906–1984) was a twentieth-century English poet, writer and broadcaster. Born to a middle-class family in Edwardian Hampstead, he attended Oxford University, although left without graduating. He turned down a position in the family furniture business, and instead took a series of jobs before becoming the assistant editor of The Architectural Review in 1931, which reflected a deeply held affection for buildings and their history. That same year he published his first book, Mount Zion, a collection of poems.

<i>The Rough and the Smooth</i> 1959 film

The Rough and the Smooth is a 1959 British drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Nadja Tiller, Tony Britton, William Bendix and Natasha Parry. The screenplay concerns an archaeologist who has an affair with a German woman putting his engagement to another woman in jeopardy.

<i>John Betjeman Goes by Train</i> 1962 British film

John Betjeman Goes By Train is a short documentary film made by British Transport Films and BBC East Anglia in 1962. The 10-minute-long film features future poet laureate John Betjeman as he takes a memorable journey by train from King's Lynn railway station to Hunstanton railway station in Norfolk, pointing out various sights and stopping off at Wolferton station on the Sandringham Estate and Snettisham station, where he extols the virtues of rural branchline stations. An early example of a Betjeman travelogue film, a similar idea was later used for his 1973 documentary Metro-land.

We Plough the Fields and Scatter

"We Plough the Fields and Scatter" is a hymn of German origin commonly associated with harvest festival. Written by poet Matthias Claudius, "Wir pflügen und wir streuen" was published in 1782 and set to music in 1800 attributed to Johann A. P. Schulz. It was translated into English by Jane Montgomery Campbell in 1861. It appears in a shortened form in the musical Godspell, as the song, "All Good Gifts". It is among the most performed of hymns in the United Kingdom.

<i>A Passion for Churches</i> 1974 BBC television documentary by Edward Mirzoeff

A Passion for Churches is a 1974 BBC television documentary written and presented by the then Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman and produced and directed by Edward Mirzoeff. Commissioned as a follow-up to the critically acclaimed 1973 documentary Metro-land, the film offers Betjeman's personal poetic record of the various rituals taking place throughout the Anglican Diocese of Norwich and its churches in the run-up to Easter Sunday using the framing device of the Holy sacraments.

Peter Gammond

Peter Gammond was a British music critic, writer, journalist, musician, poet, and artist.

Statue of John Betjeman

The statue of John Betjeman at St Pancras railway station, London is a depiction in bronze by the sculptor Martin Jennings. The statue was designed and cast in 2007 and was unveiled on 12 November 2007 by Betjeman's daughter, Candida Lycett Green and the then Poet Laureate Andrew Motion to commemorate Betjeman and mark the opening of St Pancras International as the London terminus of the Eurostar high-speed rail link between Great Britain and mainland Europe. The location memorialises the connection between St Pancras station and Betjeman, an early and lifelong advocate of Victorian architecture.

Gordon Jacob is a 1959 British short film about Gordon Jacob from Ken Russell for the Monitor television series. It was Russell's first biopic of a composer.

A House in Bayswater is a 1959 British television documentary directed by Ken Russell. It was his first BBC film not made for the Monitor series.

References

  1. Brooke, Michael (2003–14). "John Betjeman: A Poet in London (1959)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 29 November 2020.